Roasted Bell Pepper Egg in the Basket (SCD & GFCF)

After a dozen eggs and four bell peppers, I decided it was time to share this winner. I love eggs in the morning – or any time of day, for that matter. From a previous posting, you may know that I like egg in the basket – it goes by many other names, of course, but they all refer to a piece of bread that has a hole cut out of the centre and with an egg cracked into the hole and fried with the bread. To those not familiar with it, it’s easily mistaken as simply an egg sunny side up on top of a slice of toast but it is not. This was one of my new favourite ways to eat eggs but it’s been replaced with this veggie version. I like it even better than when I had it with the bread, gluten-free or otherwise.

Instead of a slice of bread, a ring of roasted, sweet red bell pepper is used. Pick your colour.

I had two of these on the first day I tried this, and had maybe eight? over the course of yesterday. I also made some for my Mum, and my siblings tried it as well. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of flavour, but upon first bite, I was floored. It was like pizza, but not pizza. It tasted kind of cheesy, but not quite. It’s umami, as described in Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires:

“Umami,” the waitress whispered in my ear. Again she had glided silently up.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Umami,” she said again. “It is the Japanese taste that cannot be described. It is when something is exactly right for the moment.”

I made this for my Mum last night. She had seconds.

The point and shoot/compact camera that I used to take all the photography herein on this site, plus my YouTube videos, called it quits a couple days ago. It showed that the battery was dead, so I put in new batteries, clicked the power button, and nothing happened. It was more frustrating since I was preparing something for the blog right when it happened! Until I get a new camera, my aunt kindly let me borrow hers and I am so impressed with her camera! It is also a point and shoot, and the quality is amazing. It’s impressive. The photo taken above was of the bell pepper egg that I made my Mum last night, no flash, with lighting that would normally have a yellow cast like some of my early photos, especially this one. Also, no editing! How cool is that?

Roasted Bell Pepper Egg in the Basket

Here at home, I generally just call it roasted red bell pepper and egg. It seems Martha beat me to the idea, but she did not roast the bell pepper – so there! If I might say so, I think mine also looks prettier. Roasting helps bring out the pepper’s flavour, as well as compliment the egg. The bell pepper rings could be roasted in advance and stored in the fridge, until ready to use, since it’s going to get reheated anyway when it’s cooked with the egg. I’ve written the recipe for making one of these, though it can be easily doubled and tripled and so on.

Wash the bell pepper and cut out the stem. To be decorative, leave the stem on and cut off the top. Cut the bell pepper into rings and deseed, also removing the white. Roast the rings on a grill rack over medium heat, until you start smelling the bell pepper and the skin has started to loosen. Turn over and continue roasting until softened. If areas of the skin blacken, that’s okay.

Once the bell pepper rings have finished roasting, remove from heat and set a fry pan over the still-hot element. Pour in a little olive oil, about a tablespoon’s worth, and put in one of the bell pepper rings. It should start sizzling immediately. Crack the egg into the bell pepper ring. The egg white may spill over or leak under, that’s okay.

Cook the egg until the white is almost cooked and set. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the white around the yolk is puffed up and cooked. It can be served now, or continue cooking with the lid on until the yolk is covered with an opaque white layer. Or, once the white around the yolk is puffed up, flip over and briefly cook for a few seconds to cook the layer of white on the yolk, but keeping the yolk still runny, and flip over to show the sunny side again. Slide on to a serving plate, seasoning with salt and or pepper, and garnishing with an extra roasted bell pepper ring, a salad, or whatever you like, or just eat as is. Enjoy!

What a splendid idea, Zoe! I have an orange bell pepper and eggs ready to go. I’m definitely making this for breakfast tomorrow. And, I had no idea you could roast peppers right on your burner–love it! You are brilliant, my dear! I enjoyed the video, too. 🙂

Zoe–I made one of these yesterday for breakfast with some partial pepper rings on the outer edges of my overflow. 😉 Fabulous! I will probably make some more for my breakfast tomorrow. Pretty and tasty way to dress up a fried egg. 🙂 I hope to include a picture in my next post, although I burned my pepper a tad. I rather like them that way. Thanks so much!